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Defend Our Country Digest

Defend Our Country Digest — September 9, 2022

By September 9, 2022No Comments

Driving the Day: 

Must Read Stories

Most Americans See Trump’s MAGA Movement As A Threat To Democracy 

  • Reuters: Most Americans See Trump’s MAGA As Threat To Democracy: Reuters/Ipsos Poll: Days after Democratic President Joe Biden gave a fiery speech attacking former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies as an extremist threat, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Wednesday found a majority of Americans believe Trump’s movement is undermining democracy. Fifty-eight percent of respondents in the two-day poll – including one in four Republicans – said Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement is threatening America’s democratic foundations.

Department Of Justice Is Probing Trump’s Post-Election Fundraising 

  • New York Times: Trump’s Post-Election Fund-Raising Comes Under Scrutiny by Justice Dept:  A federal grand jury in Washington is examining the formation of — and spending by — a fund-raising operation created by Donald J. Trump after his loss in the 2020 election as he was soliciting millions of dollars by baselessly asserting that the results had been marred by widespread voting fraud. According to subpoenas issued by the grand jury, the contents of which were described to The New York Times, the Justice Department is interested in the inner workings of Save America PAC, Mr. Trump’s main fund-raising vehicle after the election. Several similar subpoenas were sent on Wednesday to junior and midlevel aides who worked in the White House and for Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign. The fact that federal prosecutors are now seeking information about the fund-raising operation is a significant new turn in an already sprawling criminal investigation into the roles that Mr. Trump and some of his allies played in trying to overturn the election, an array of efforts that culminated with the mob attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

One In Three Republican Candidates For Statewide Office Wanted To Overturn The 2020 Election As Security Experts Warn That Their Victory In November Could Weaken US Elections 

  • Associated Press: Support Of False Election Claims Runs Deep In 2022 GOP Field: Nearly 1 in 3 Republican candidates for statewide offices that play a role in overseeing, certifying or defending elections supported overturning the results of the 2020 presidential race, according to an Associated Press review. They include contenders from one end of the country to the other, often in pivotal swing states, for positions that are the linchpins of democracy. In Michigan, Kristina Karamo, a community college professor who signed an affidavit to a lawsuit seeking to throw out President Joe Biden’s win, is running to be the state’s top elections official. In Arizona, GOP candidates for the three top statewide offices all backed setting aside Biden’s victory in their state. The breadth of election denial among Republicans is a reminder of the grip that Donald Trump has on the party. As the midterm primary season reaches its conclusion next week, Trump has wielded the power of his endorsement with great effect, lifting candidates who parrot his conspiracy theories while largely sidelining those who accepted the legitimacy of Biden’s election.
  • Politico: ‘Absolutely Terrifying Prospect’: How The Midterms Could Weaken U.S. Election Security: Republicans who support former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election would gain the power to open up access to their states’ voting machines if they win in November — a prospect that security experts call potentially catastrophic for American democracy. Already, unvetted outsiders have examined voting equipment or inspected the devices’ sensitive computer code in counties in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania, bypassing longstanding security protections — in many cases with the support of Trump allies overseeing local elections. Now Republicans who embrace the former president’s conspiracy theories are running for governor or secretary of state, offices that would give them even broader authority to allow like-minded activists and consulting firms to conduct so-called “audits” of the entire voting systems in key states. These kinds of examinations would make it easier for hackers intent on sowing chaos or changing the outcomes of future elections to learn how to conduct their attacks, according to voting security professionals, who note that some sensitive information about voting machines has already been leaked since Trump supporters began their push for audits. It’s “an absolutely terrifying prospect,” said J. Alex Halderman, a computer security expert and professor at the University of Michigan who has repeatedly exposed flaws in voting systems but has also debunked Trump’s claims about 2020 fraud.

In The States 

CALIFORNIA:  Torrents Of Requests From MAGA Election Deniers Are Making Life Hell For Election Officials

  • SFGATE: ‘This Cannot Continue’: MAGA Influencers Are Creating Hell For California Elections Offices: Natalie Adona, the clerk-recorder and registrar of voters in California’s Nevada County, is having a bad week. For almost two years now, her inbox has been inundated with public records requests from people who falsely believe the 2020 election was stolen. Thanks to a handful of online conspiracy theorists, though, this has been the worst week yet — not just for Adona, but for many election officials around the state.  “The requests are growing exponentially,” she said. “There is some comfort in knowing that it’s not just us.” Every one of the requests, which are often copy/pasted from templates distributed by influencers peddling falsehoods about the 2020 election, must be carefully reviewed and responded to. Several counties have had to hire outside assistance to sort through the swarm, which officials told SFGATE is a labor-intensive distraction from their work preparing for the upcoming elections this year.

MICHIGAN:  Supreme Court Orders Abortion And Voting Rights Initiatives Onto The Ballot 

  • Detroit News: High Court Orders Abortion, Voting Rights Proposals On Nov. 8 Ballot In Michigan: The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a proposal onto the Nov. 8 ballot that seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, a highly charged issue that political experts said would affect the election.  The high court on Thursday overruled a deadlocked Board of State Canvassers and ordered the four-member panel to certify the ballot proposal as Prop 3 for the Nov. 8 ballot, discarding arguments that spacing issues in the petition initiative were enough to disqualify the measure.  The high court also ruled the Board of State Canvassers should do the same for a voting rights proposal seeking, among other things, to allow for nine days of early voting in Michigan. Canvassers had deadlocked over a challenge accusing the ballot committee of failing to list all of the impacted areas of the Michigan Constitution on its petition.

PENNSYLVANIA: Far Right Gubernatorial Candidate Doug Mastriano Is “Trumpier Than Trump” 

  • Axios: Trumpier Than Trump: Some GOP candidates are softening their rhetoric and scrubbing their campaign websites of hardline positions as the midterms get closer. But Doug Mastriano is running a much different playbook in the Pennsylvania governor’s race, one of the most important contests in the nation. Driving the news: He has doubled down on false claims about the 2020 election. He’s ghosting the mainstream media and spending nothing on TV advertising, relying instead on Facebook livestreams and far-right media. He has a small staff largely unknown to Pennsylvania politicos. And he may tap a woman who has described QAnon as “a very valuable resource” to be the state’s top election official. Why it matters: Mastriano, who was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is a new model of ultra-MAGA candidate. If Mastriano achieves an unlikely victory in November, he would control the election machinery of a key battleground state in 2024.

What Experts Are Saying

Norm Eisen, Brookings Institute senior fellow, re: Department of Justice appealing the Mar-A-Lago Special Master ruling: “Partial appeal, which is shrewd. Keeps things moving fast.” Tweet 

Asha Rangappa, former FBI agent: “Important point DOJ makes is that the classified records are central to the ‘obstruction’ investigation (they say this obliquely). June subpoena was for documents with ‘classified markings’…so any that he retained after certifying they had been returned are ipso facto evidence” Tweet 

Harry Litman, former US attorney, re: DOJ’s motion for partial stay: “Motion for stay should flush Trump out. Will he actually try to assert possessory interest in any of the classified documents? And after the public lambasting she’s taken, which she actually try to hold in his favor?” Tweet 

Wendy Weiser, a vice president at The Brennan Center for Justice, re: MI GOP leaders encouraging rule breaking: “‘There is no exception to following the laws; there is no ‘two wrongs make a right,’’ said Wendy Weiser, a vice president at The Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks potential insider threats to the election process. Weiser said the center is seeing a spread in efforts by election deniers to infiltrate and manipulate the voting and vote counting process. ‘If poll workers are not committed to following the law, to following the directions of election officials, to protecting the integrity of the election process, they can do serious harm,’ Weiser said.” CNN 

Headlines

The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections

Cincinnati Enquirer: ‘They don’t recognize the party.’ GOP group launches campaign against J.D. Vance

CNN: Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to NY state charges of money laundering, conspiracy and fraud related to border wall effort

Los Angeles Times: Echoing Trump, Brazil’s president prepares for election loss by declaring vote rigged

January 6 And The 2020 Election

ABC: Federal grand jury probing Trump PAC’s formation, fundraising efforts: Sources

NPR: A publisher abruptly recalled the “2,000 Mules” election denial book. NPR got a copy.

Washington Post: FEC unanimously rejects complaints about Zuckerberg’s 2020 election grants

Other Trump Investigations 

Politico: DOJ appeals special master ruling in Trump Mar-a-Lago probe

Opinion

New York Times (Jamelle Bouie): You Can’t Talk About MAGA America in Hushed Tones

New York Times (Michelle Godlberg): American Turmoil, as Seen by a War Correspondent

Washington Post (Jennifer Rubin): Evan McMullin is showing how to fight rabid Trump sycophancy

In The States 

Detroit Free Press: Muskegon prosecutor appointed to review criminal allegations against DePerno, others